The Bitter Fruit
by Rurikredwolf
Summary: Anduin has a lot of unanswered questions regarding the mysterious black prince. Wrathion, sensing the questions, decides to finally answer a few of them.


**Apologies if there are any grammar mistakes; my eyes are bad and I don't have a beta who likes Warcraft. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warcraft. If I did, Dragon Soul would not have happened.**

"It's about time we got away from those foolish guards, wouldn't you say?" A tanned, young man said to his companion as they walked along the beach of the Timeless Isle. Massive turtles rested on the warm shore while large, blue crabs scuttled along as if they sought to attack the duo, but had decided against so for unknown reasons.

"My father is going to kill me once he realizes I left my guards again." The other figure scratched his golden hair, standing a bit shorter and of lighter skin than the other. He was in his late teens, around sixteen or seventeen. It was impossible to tell these days, with the war between the Horde and the Alliance at it's pinnacle. He wore simple garments that strongly resembled one who followed the path of a Priest; white, cloth, and very light in addition to the blue tabard with a golden lion as the symbol, the banner for Stormwind.

"Your father should realize that you are in perfectly safe hands, young Anduin." The other flashed a grin, his red eyes meeting the young prince's sky-blue ones. "I am a black dragon; anyone foolish enough to attack this will find out firsthand what it is like to provoke a dragon's wrath."

Two things sank into Anduin's head at what his companion, Wrathion, had said. It never quite hit him even after a few months of being in the company of him that he was...well, a dragon. A black dragon, of all dragons. He shuddered a bit. Every single black dragon before had either tried to manipulate/destroy the mortal races, or kidnap others for their own devices. Anduin had had the misfortune of having one dragon, Onyxia, do two to him, only to have his father, the king of Stormwind, slay her in her very lair. It always unnerved him whenever Wrathion referred to her with the affectionate title of 'Auntie.'

As for the second? "Aren't you only two?"

Wrathion laughed, adjusting his white turban after a small gust of wind had threatened to knock it off. His ebony hair whipped into his face as a result. "Two in body, approximately twenty in mind. Us dragons are not like your brood."

"Right..." Anduin chuckled as they strayed away from the shore, for a group of adventurers had begun to slay the local wildlife ahead for food and the strange coins they dropped, known as Timeless Coins. Both he and Wrathion had debated for hours on what the coins were, but neither one could reach an agreement.

"By the way, how are your injuries holding up? I see you are finally off that crutch." Wrathion turned his gaze to the young prince.

"My leg still hurts but I need to exercise it. Only reason why I agreed to this walk." Anduin said with irritation, but cast the dragon a smile to show he wasn't serious.

"Well, good, because I wish to show you a place that I frequent that requires a bit of climbing." The dragon brushed a bit of dirt off his black, scale-like outfit that had been kicked up by a crane that dashed towards a dwarven paladin who strayed too close to its nest. "Blasted birds...why don't they fly? They have wings!"

"Some birds are flightless." Anduin winced as the paladin cracked it's hammer over the bird's head, killing it instantly.

"Then why do they have wings? Do the Titans not know how to design a lifeform?" Wrathion grumbled under his breath before he spied a rocky outcrop hidden between two large trees. "Ah, there we are. Follow me."

In a small puff of smoke and flame, Wrathion had shifted back to his natural state...a whelpling. Anduin always suppressed a laugh whenever it happened. He strode tall and intimidating in his human form, but when he transformed, the most threat he posed was to their lunch. With a few flaps of his orange wings, the small, sleek-scaled whelp perched to the top of the rock, his emerald eyes fixated on Anduin with an unreadable expression.

Anduin never found himself to be a climber. In fact, in his training, he never really had to do such things. Still, he placed his gloved hand into a rook, and pulled himself up. His leg burned from the movement, as did some of his other wounds, but it wasn't as bad as it was before. Now the only problem was lifting his other leg up. Somehow, he managed to do it, but now he was on the verge of falling flat on his back.

"Can you not look at me like that? I'm already stressed as is." The young prince glanced to Wrathion, who watched him through unblinking eyes. A fang-less smile formed on the whelp's face in response.

It was a tiresome task, but Anduin almost reached the top after a few moments. It was bigger than expected, and he still wasn't sure how he was able to climb so far. Maybe the Light guided him. Maybe it was sheer luck. Regardless, he wasn't about to complain.

Whatever held him aloft quickly vanished, though, once a rock had slipped out of Anduin's grasp, and he nearly fell to his death. Nearly being the key word, as a tan hand had clasped his and pulled him up to safety. Wrathion's red eyes met his as laughter Anduin swore was evil burst from the dragon.

"Almost, Anduin, almost." He offered Anduin a red fruit. "Eat and restore your strength. We have much to discuss." Wrathion said as he gazed out into the ocean before them. If Anduin squinted his eyes, he could almost see The Jade Forest in the distance, where the ship that brought him here had crashed. It was hard to believe that six months, give or take two, had passed since they had come to Pandaria.

"I knew there was an ulterior motive for you bringing me here." Anduin bit into the fruit, finding it very bitter. Yet, his strength returned, so he continued to eat.

"Well, I look into your eyes and I still see questions. With the Tauren and guards around, it was impossible for us to talk. We may speak in peace here." Wrathion sat on a rock near the edge. "Now, speak your mind."

Anduin wasn't sure what question to ask first. Wrathion was right; ever since he had met the black prince, more and more questions remained unanswered. Still, there was a big one, one that had been bothering him ever since they had obtained the Thunder King's heart.

"You told me it was wise not to trust you. Yet you drag me off alone. Why?" Anduin decided this to be his first question.

Wrathion's eyes flared up as he grinned. "Ah, I was waiting for you to inquire about that." He cleared his throat a bit. "As you may know, my kind runs on deception, infiltration, and manipulation. Although I am an uncorrupted black, I still employ these traits. You may trust me when I say that I will do everything in my power to save this world, regardless of who stands before me."

"Meaning me?" Anduin raised a golden eyebrow.

"I should hope not, but as a fair warning if I have not said it previously, if you stand in my way, I will be forced to..ah...subdue you." Wrathion chuckled and smiled. "However, out of all the mortals I have spoken to, you are one of the only ones with a brain in your head as apposed to a boulderhead like Garrosh. I believe you and I will get along just fine as the years flow by."

Anduin flinched at the mention of the Warchief of the 'True Horde'. Although Garrosh himself did not frighten the young prince, the memory of nearly being crushed brought back...unpleasant emotions. The priests were under the impression that he may have suffered a trauma from it, and he didn't dare argue.

"I thank you for the compliment, but that doesn't really answer my question." Anduin said as Wrathion's grin turned fanged. "I'm not going to get an answer, am I?"

"Right you are, young Anduin."

Had Wrathion been anyone else, Anduin would have felt a twinge of irritation. For now, it was mild annoyance. He had grown accustomed to the dragon's cryptic sayings and perfect evasion of conversations. Still, another flashed to Anduin's mind as he recalled an action Wrathion had done before the two had met.

"Question; how do you plan on creating more uncorrupted black dragons if you are the only one left?" Anduin was surprised the question didn't come sooner if he were honest.

"Simple; I'm not." Wrathion's answer came as a shock as the black dragon began to pace. "The Black Dragonflight has been corrupted so deeply that even if I were to mate, the old god's influence would likely spread to the clutch. I might even became corrupted from the close contact. So I came to the decision that all of them must die."

"Now what?" Anduin watched the dragon stop and grin at him.

"Now what indeed. I have an idea of sorts, but the rest of the flights would likely be appalled by such an idea no matter how beneficial it would be."

"Go on."

"It involves cross-breeding," Wrathion began to pace again. "You see, I have come to the conclusion that the remaining four flights, divided, are vulnerable. If we were to cross-breed, we would have dragons with the powers of both flights, and no enemy may threaten the world should they be stupid enough to attack. Imagine, Anduin; a dragon with the ability to manipulate time and create life in a second! The possibilities are endless and not even Sargeras himself would stand a chance!"

"I thought separate flight breeding was impossible?"

"They say it is, but I also don't see anyone trying to disprove it," Wrathion growled and folded his arms.

"Aren't you a bit...young for the breeding part, anyway?"

"I am now, yes. But soon enough I will be a Drake, and I am able to do so then. Our kind has no restriction on age at that point. In fact, when I was newly laid in the Badlands, I heard the red dragon who cared for me for a while say to herself that her mate was turning twenty-thousand. I later learned she was no older than five thousand."

"You could...hear her in your egg after you were laid?" Anduin asked skeptically.

"Of course! How do you think I am able to speak?"

Anduin supposed that was a stupid question. "Right, I got one last question."

"I am eager to hear."

"Why that form?"

Wrathion stared at Anduin with surprise and looked at himself. "Ah," was all he could say as he sat back down, "Well...this is kind of a story I do not like being told. I trust you can keep this between you and I?"

"Haven't I always?" Anduin gave a wry smile and ate a bit more of the fruit.

Wrathion plucked his own from the tree and tossed it between his hands. "Before I hatched, I was held prisoner by the Red Dragonflight as a weapon against my father, Deathwing. I hated all of them. Except one. Corastraza was her name, if I remember correctly. She was...nice."

Wrathion spun the fruit on his finger. "She was a mother of many. Fierce and caused many eyes to stare at her in both awe and fright, but when it came to hatchlings, she knew exactly how to treat them. Every day, presumably to try and get me to warm up to the flight, she would visit me and tell me stories. Adventure, action, the like. I believe the story she told was a mortal one."

"It was about an ancient mortal prince in the Tanaris area, back before your kind moved to where Stormwind is now. The story goes about how he was an outcast to his very kingdom because he did not share their beliefs. Because he had different eyes. Because he sought to save the land rather than let it be plundered until nothing remained."

"Years passed since his banishment. The kingdom thought he was long gone, his bones to forever bleach in the cruel desert sun. Only, he didn't. He targeted the corrupted council and pharaoh, and he slew them with his allies. Then, he claimed his rightful place on the throne, and he used his influence to make his kingdom, and the world around him, a better place."

"Let me guess; the form you wear resembles the outfit of this prince." Anduin, who had been listening to the story quietly, spoke after a pause in the dragon's speech.

"Indeed. Before you ask, yes, it is where I got my idea to purge my kind." Wrathion eyed the fruit before he took a bite. Then, he crinkled his face. "It is quite bitter, isn't it?"

"I could of told you that," Anduin laughed at the look on the dragon's face, "Well, I think that satisfies most of my questions. No doubt I'll have more later when I'm not placed on the spot."

"And I shall answer them happily." Wrathion looked toward the sun, which has not moved an inch. "I suppose we should get you back before your guards summon your father from the siege."

"He would force a mage to teleport here if I was in trouble..." Anduin snickered. "Don't worry, I can levitate myself down." He said as Wrathion eyed him dubiously.

"Very well, I shall await you at the bottom."

"Oh, and Wrathion..."

"Yes?"

"Try and climb down without shifting."

The face Wrathion made had Anduin howling with laughter hours after they had returned to the Celestial Court.

**Edit: Misnamed a location.**

**Well look, you made it to the end. I suppose I did something right then, didn't I? To be honest, this was my first Warcraft story in years and I wrote it in one sitting. Idea came to me when I was at work. Plus I really like Wrathion and Anduin's friendship. It's interesting. **

**I suppose I should say this now; I don't support Wranduin, but if you like it, that's cool as well. If I just like to focus on their friendship and interesting chemistry. **

**If you'd like to see more, be sure to let me know! I have a few ideas of what else I can do with these two and the Warcraft universe in general, so yeah. Fun fun.**

**I'll stop rambling now.**


End file.
